The auditorium took almost twenty minutes to calm down enough for evaluations to continue.
Ren had descended from the platform amidst a cacophony of voices. Some nobles shouted objections, insisting there had to be a trick, that it was impossible, that Selphira or Julius had clearly planted some illusion to make their favorite 'marionette kid' look good.
Others, those of higher level and mana perception, remained in stunned silence, their minds still processing what they had witnessed. Their understanding of what was possible had just been fundamentally challenged.
The students were less restrained. Min especially had jumped on his seat shouting victories.
Klein Goldcrest watched from his section with a complex expression. There was a small smile on his lips, but his eyes showed something deeper. Respect, maybe. Or recognition that he had made the correct decision betting that "if Ren said he could, it had to be true".
